Separate Times, New Lives
by Kenna Cat
Summary: AU. 'The world was thrown into chaos born of a curse that should have never been. In an effort to save the world, the Four Great Spirits renewed the world, both mortals and spirits alike, at the request of one human. This is the story of his journey, his past, and his future.' Being Rewritten, so... Hiatus.
1. Prologue

**So... yeah... first fanfiction. Open to any criticisms and reviews, 'cause after all, it is my FIRST fanfiction.**

**There will be different OC's, but I hope I can explain who they are properly. **

**Some characters will change dramatically after the events, but they will have individual flashbacks on how they changed and why. So if someone you like has changed dramatically, I got my reasons, and I'll show them when I see it fit.**

**I don't have anyone I can send this to pre-read my writing, so if you would like to help co-write the story, feel free to PM me, but only one person will be chosen if done so. **

**Warning****: I'm taking the Avatar universe and completely flipping it around, jumbling all the elements and re-writing the story. The Legend of Korra might be included, but that will be in the far off future, if this story ever gets that far. Hopefully I can add it in with all the changes I make to the story, but you never know, the story might not fit well with Korra.**

**Now then, Zuko will provide the disclaimer.**

**Zuko: ...hey... Zuko here. Avatar: The Last Airbender does not belong to Kenna Cat, at all.**

**Kenna Cat: Of course, because I would not be able to make such an awesome TV series anyway.**

**Zuko: ...as I was saying, Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Nickelodeon**

* * *

**Prologue**

_"A curse, a curse born of hate and sorrow. I curse you all and all who come into contact when you, driven till you reach insanity and malice. May all mortals perish as we have."_

**- OoOoOoOoOoO -**

_"The headpiece for the Crown Prince. My great-grandfather, Avatar Roku...and my other great-grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin. Good and evil is constantly battling within me, but what do _I_ truly want? What ... is my true destiny?"_

**- OoOoOoOoOoO -**

_"I'm tired of always serving the Fire Nation! The Fire Nation must die!"_**  
**

_"They never remember us, honor us for our work! The Royal Family must fall and perish!"_

_"Onward men!"_

**- OoOoOoOoOoO -**_  
_

_Zuko, interuppted from his train of thought, heard a distant scream. "Both citizens and the army have infiltrated the inner palace. Guards are dying right and left, my Lord!"_

_"It's time for you to die, Fire Lord Ozai!"_

_"Run Zuko! Don't let them get you too."_

_"Zuzu... I'm sorry."_

_"You must live...nephew...live, for my sake, and the for sake of your family. I'm sorry, Zuko...goodbye."_

**- OoOoOoOoOoO -**

_"All of the Royal Family has died, Aang."_**  
**

_"But why!?"_

_"A curse, a curse that has plagued all of human kind."_

_"The curse, it's a plague, and not an ordinary one. For whoever has the plague, if they touch someone, it will transfer over to the next person. It drives people insane; chaos erupts, and those with the curse are branded with a mark."_

**- OoOoOoOoOoO -**

_"They were my friends, you know... Twinkle Toes, Sugar Queen, Snoozles. I just... can't believe they're gone."_

_"My whole tribe has perished, even my daughter, the moon, could not save us. Now only three people remain here that still have a shred of sanity left. No one is left, not even our sister tribe."_

_"Sokka! NO!"_

_"I have watched over Zuko for many years, watching as he struggled through his life, finding and capturing the Avatar. But now, I have lost sight of him, for the crisis in the Spirit World is growing greater with each passing day. My only regret is that my father has now joined me instead of staying with Zuko."_

_"Earth Kingdom, you will pay for what you did to my brother! Sokka never deserved to die!"_

_"I don't know what to do anymore... everyone's disappeared, Katara, Sokka, Suki... I don't even know where Toph went off to. People are dying out there! I just can't keep the balance myself anymore, not without my friends who used to help keep me stable."_

**- OoOoOoOoOoO -**

_"It doesn't just infect mortals. This curse can get us spirits too. The Spirit World is in disarray."_

**- OoOoOoOoOoO -**

_"I am Koh, the Face Stealer... I'm debating whether I should steal your face when you are the one who saved me from my demise as a spirit... but I will refrain. What is it that you want to know?" _

_"Where are the gods of the elements?"_

_"Agni, the Fire Spirit. Tui and La, otherwise known as Yue, the Moon and Ocean Spirits, Yochi, the Earth spirit, and Huushi, the Wind Sprit. Seek their help, for now, only they can repair this world."_

**- OoOoOoOoOoO -**_  
_

_"Only seven have survived this terrible world, one having departed from the mortal realm recently. It is time. We shall fulfill your request, for you have suffered long enough."_

**- OoOoOoOoOoO -**

_"We're...alive?!"_

_"My name is Nenka, son of Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe."_

_"Where are you Zuzu…? Where did you disappear of to?"_

_"Why would you want to find that traitor? Huh?!"_

_"Who... am I?"_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_"Welcome to the annual spiritual gathering of peace! People of all nations, benders and non-benders have gathered here for the events and festivals. Enjoy yourselves for the chosen people have come to preform before you!"_

_"This selection, sometimes I hate it, and sometimes I love it. The spirits randomly choose people to help bring the nations and people together."_

_"Not all is what it seems in this city. Rumors are that there will be a rebellion. The spirits are in danger."_

_"We need the original eight."_

_"We need the Avatar!"_

_"Yes... I'll go."_

_"Please... be careful."_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_"Of course."_

**- OoOoOoOoOoO -**

The world was thrown into chaos born of a curse that should have never been. In an effort to save the world, the Four Great Spirits renewed the world, both mortals and spirits alike, at the request of one human. This is the story of his journey, his past, and his future.

* * *

**That's basically it for the Prologue. Chapter One will start out with a different story line that focuses on other people, and not on Zuko and the GAang. **

**Please read and review. **

**I hope to go far in this story, but I need comments on how I'm doing and whether I should continue this story or not. Thank you for your time in reading this.**

**Zuko: Seriously, Kenna Cat needs those reviews.**


	2. Chapter One: Curiosity

**Welcome to Chapter One. If anyone is confused by the prologue, don't worry. A lot of it will be explained throughout the story, so you can always go back to the prologue to see where things match.**

**I plan on updating this story weekly, so cheer me on. I going to complete this one way or another, mainly because I always hated it when someone would write something and then abandon it for years. 'Cause seriously, there's some good ideas out there, just... unfinished because the authors never bothered to keep writing.**

**Anyway...**

**Kenna Cat: Zuko?**

**Zuko: ...*sigh* Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Nickelodeon**

**Warning****: I'm taking the Avatar universe and completely flipping it around, jumbling all the elements and re-writing the story.**

_"Thoughts"_**  
**

"Speaking"

Narration

* * *

**Chapter One: Curiosity**

A group of Fire Nation troops were seen cruising along the sea, heading back to the Fire Nation Capital. If one observed closely, one man could be seen standing at the bow of the ship, looking off into the distance.

A man, dressed in standard Fire Nation General military attire, was deep in thought, ruminating over his success over squashing a rising rebellion in an Earth Kingdom city. One would think he would be elated; however, he wore a pensive expression on his tired face.

General Touzo had received no letter after his report of his crew's success. He sighed, thinking about the recent events that had happened while his crew was still fighting Earthbenders in some "no name" town. They had gotten things under control and imprisoned more "lowly" peasants, but he couldn't help but feel sympathy for them, thinking about his own family waiting back home.

He had recently been informed that Crown Prince Zuko had returned. If that was true, then the Avatar would either be imprisoned or dead. However, it seemed that was all the Fire Lord cared about: the return of his son and daughter to his side and the victory of the Hundred Year War.

_"Well, there goes any chance that the Fire Lord will be defeated and a chance to save the rest of the world. Look at me... here I am pondering the fall of my nation. When I was at the start of my military career, all I could think about was supporting my nation"_ he thought.

He continued pondering whether he should continue staying loyal to the Fire Nation to protect his family or have them pack up and move to a small village in the Earth Kingdom. Meanwhile, a member of the crew approached General Touzo from behind, interrupting the general's thoughts.

"Sir! We are approaching the Sun Warriors' ancient city! Much of the crew wants to investigate the ruins to find any secrets to greater firebending! What should I say to them?"

General Touzo could feel an increasingly bad feeling about going through with the request. Although incredibly small, he could feel a sense of dread coursing through his body. However, if he turned down the request, he wasn't sure his crew would completely listen to him. Sure, they were reliable comrades in the field, but some had issues with him and his views. He decided to squash the dread slowly coming over him and ordered his men to make the detour to investigate the ruins.

_As long as we don't report this to Fire Lord Ozai, I see nothing wrong with going to the island, but what is this discomfort that won't go away?_

"Tell the men that we will head to the old ruins to investigate. Hurry up before I change my mind!"

"Yes sir!"

The crewman scurried off, elated that his general allowed everyone to go investigate the island. The crewman gave a small whoop of joy and ran to inform the rest of the crew. General Touzo, who was watching the young man run off, smiled at the scene. No matter what his crew thought, he still cared for them and wanted them to enjoy life more.

The ship lurched toward the small island, slowly going towards the shore. No one had dared to visit the island, ever since retired General Iroh had stated that he killed the last dragon and earned the title "Dragon of the West".

_But it wouldn't harm to go visit the ruins to learn a few ancient secrets, could it? How come others have not thought about learning from the ancients? Well, this crew was relatively new and interested in the origins of firebending, having read from the text that it may increase your ability to firebend well. Most of the Fire Nation has forsaken the old and embraced the new brought about by Fire Lord Ozai. It shouldn't hurt to find more about the past… right?_

General Touzo would not come to realize how wrong he had been.

**- OoOoOoOoOoO -**

The crew made their way toward the ruins, having anchored the ship and rowed toward the shore. The ancient ruins were truly an amazing sight. Decorative columns etched with elaborate dragons stood proudly at the entrance. Broken towers and buildings, once beautiful but now worn, adorned the ruins in a symmetrical fashion down the middle of the hallway that lay before them. Trees and vines littered the area, covering the walls, buildings, and temples within the ancient city. Straight ahead, there stood a tall, pyramid-like temple in the distance. A long set of stairs, which seemed to be lined with gold, led to the top of the temple. There was no doubt that many centuries back the Sun Warriors' civilization was a thriving nation.

General Touzo and his men made their way through a narrow street, vines over head linking the two walls that flanked them together. Many of the young crew members observed in awe of the architecture that lay before them. Touzo even heard one of his men point out that the place seemed oddly familiar.

_"Of course. After all, the Fire Sages' temples were modeled after these structures. But what else is hiding within these ancient ruins?"_ thought General Touzo.

He was abruptly shaken out of his musings when one of his men had triggered a trap, spikes protruding from the now sunken ground. Luckily, another man had managed to grab his fellow co-worker from falling face first into the trap, resulting in another loss. This trap immediately put his men on high alert. General Touzo decided to ask whether his men wanted to continue or not.

"Attention! Men, do you still want to continue exploring these ancient ruins?" General Touzo yelled. Again, that uncomfortable feeling that they should not be here struck him. However, he shook it off, believeing that he was just paranoid.

Mummers spread throughout the group. One man decided to speak up.

"Sir! We still would like to explore these ruins! If the traps are still in working order, then the ancient Sun Warriors must still have something to hide! We request permission to go forward!"

His men made a logical point. Why would there still be traps if there was nothing to hide. How could a trap like that still work if this city was centuries old? Conceding to that fact and a bit curious as well, Touzo decided to give permission.

"Alright men! Permission granted! Let's continue!" he shouted.

Several whoops could be heard as his men placed a plank over the trap and continued on. They passed by many temple entrances, all found to be empty or mostly destroyed on the inside. Continuing their way up to the top of the large temple that stood before them, they saw that many temples had tress and roots covering the buildings. They had been more careful after the first trap, checking places that might have triggered others. Not only did that help, seeing that they had come across seven other traps before reaching the stairs, but also made the men more eager to find what the Sun Warriors were hiding.

**- OoOoOoOoOoO -**

Climbing up the stairs, General Touzo hung at the back of the group, pondering what he wanted to find within these ruins.

_"What _do _I want to find here? Perhaps a new way to view life? Maybe I can find someway to retire from my position as a general and return to my family. Once I get back home, I'll ask them whether or not they would like to move out to the country with me. Maybe go to __Ember__Island__ or something"_ he mused.

Noticing that they had reached the top, General Touzo stared at the large mural before him. The others were trying to decipher its meaning. Two elaborate dragons were shown breathing fire towards one lone human whose hands were spread out. The human looked like it was enveloped in a sphere of fire, making the picture look like the dragons were attacking the human rather than teaching him how to firebend. The men decided to ignore it, but General Touzo felt a sense of dread as he looked at the two dragons before continuing with his men.

Eventually his men stood before another flight of stairs. On each side of the steps there stood a dragon statue. However, one of the dragon's head had fallen off, which lay before them. Broken chunks were scattered around. Carefully, them men went around it, heading toward the top where the found a pillar and a door, each containing a red stone, also known as a sunstone. By the looks of the layout, Touzo guessed it to be a celestial calendar, similar to the ones found in Fire Sages' temples. It seemed that the door would only open if the sun shone through both stones, the one on the pillar and the one above the door, at just the right angles. In other words, on the solstice. Touzo knew that they didn't have _that _much time. Luckily, he used to play with small pieces of sunstones his father had found during his travels and knew that if you reflected the light of on object toward the other stone, the light would still go through.

His men had already walked up to the door. They were trying to pry open the door using force. Several men were on each side, pulling at the middle and moving away from each other. Obviously it was of no use because soon after they started, the men quickly became tired and asked to be switched out with another person. General Touzo could only shake his head at their antics.

Drawing a sword that he liked to keep in handy, he asked his men to step aside and reflected the sunlight coming through the pillar onto the stone above the door. His men waited patiently, carefully watching their general work at trying to get just the right angle to get the door open. After a few minutes of adjusting, the sunstone relented, opening the door and revealing a large spacious room. In there was a circular pedestal with only on entrance that was facing the door. On the pedestal, several statues were erected. On one side of the circle, a statue would stand, and in the same position on the opposite side of the circle stood and identical statue that looked to be in a firebending stance. One of his men had already gone to observe the figures stating that the katas were called "The Dancing Dragon".

The room was relatively simple. The walls were painted with simple sun-like designs and the room only had the statues furnishing it. On the floor and in the middle of the circle was etched an elaborate flower-like design. Looking closely at the middle of the design, a faint line could be seen, showing that there could potentially be something under it.

"General Touzo! It seems that if we follow the stances here, we can open some sort of treasure. The floor slightly sinks in if we perform the correct stances. Should we go ahead and try it, sir?" one of his men asked.

"Alright, but let me try. One of you will have to get on the other side. This seems like it requires two people to trigger it" Touzo replied.

Many of the men carefully observed the stances, believing that it could help with their firebending. General Touzo and his partner preformed the steps till they meet together at the center at the far side of the room. Right after they finished, a beautiful (_"and relatively new"_ thought Touzo) pedestal rose from the slit in the middle of the room. On it was a golden egg-shaped gem with four swirls below four snake-like patterns and dots. Before one of his men could grab it, General Touzo shouted for them to stop.

"Don't touch it men! This might be trapped just like at the entrance" he stated.

"Then what shall we do sir?"

"Who is the fastest runner? If we truly want this artifact to come with us, we'll need speed to get it out of this room. Everybody else, get outside. I don't want any extra losses from this place."

The men nodded, and stepped outside the door and back to safety. A young man by the name of Karak stepped forward as he was the fastest runner.

"Kai, get to the far side of the circle, grab the gem while running, and sprint toward the exit will full force. Your life will probably depend on this, just like in all the other traps we have disabled. Start on my signal. I need to get out of this room first" Touzo ordered.

"Yes sir!" replied Kai as he walked over to his position, crouched down, and got ready.

Once outside of the room, General Touzo gave the go. Kai sprinted toward the gem, grabbed it, and ran towards the door like his life depended on it. And it did. No sooner had he taken the gem off, green goop sprouted from the pedestal at an alarming rate, chasing the young man as he ran. The door was starting to close soon after, and Kai had to make a jump for it. He barely manages to slip past with the gem, lifting it above his head. Only problem, his clothes got caught between the doors. The force of the landing had managed to rip his pants off, but no one laughed. Instead, they congratulated him on a job well done, and gave him a spare set of pants. At this point, the room had been sealed off by the mysterious gluey substance.

Once again, Touzo had a wave of dread wash over his. He couldn't help but feel that something was completely off, like the world was telling him that he should give up and go back. However, being of Fire Nation blood, he had been taught to never give up until the end. Conflicted by this persistent feeling, he turned to his men who were grinning and having fun, observing the new treasure they had obtained. He smiled softly, happy that his men were having fun.

However, that feeling was cut off when someone new intruded on their little celebration. A man had appeared out of nowhere. He had no shirt, but had a red small cloth that covered his neck and shoulders and similarly colored wristbands and anklets. He had baggy red pants wrapped under a yellow cloth. His hair was tied in a high ponytail, and he wore a headband. On his face were markings and he looked extremely angry. No doubt from seeing that the golden gem was in the hands of a stranger. General Touzo realized that this must have been a Sun Warrior descendant and that not all Sun Warriors had died of many centuries ago.

"What are you doing with our sun stone? Give it back!" the Sun Warrior shouted.

"Why should we?"

"Yeah, not like you have any use for it now that we got it!"

"What are you going to do about it, huh?!"

He could hear various responses coming from his group while he watched as more Sun Warriors had gathered to come and fight for the gem stone. It didn't seem like he could get out of this one this time. Both sides wanted the gem and had already started trading blows. The feeling of dread had consumed his mind once more as he saw a man who clearly had to be the chief. The chief had and calm and serious face on, thinly masking the extreme angry that hid behind it.

"Why have you come here? For trying to take our sun stone, you must be severely punished!" he stated.

To that, General Touzo had no reply. He was solely focused on defeating his opponent. He knew that the chief could not be taken lightly. By the end of this battle, his men will have won and the Sun Warriors will be imprisoned, for that he was certain. Yet why did he feel bad for doing this? He neither wanted to fight them nor imprison them. All these thoughts ran through his head. But he couldn't care about that now; the Sun Warrior chief sent a torrent of fireballs his way, initiating the start of combat.

That day cries of war could be heard throughout the ruins that day. The chief and the general faced off in an all out fight, nothing holding them back. Each side fought fiercely, all wanting the golden gem that was still being held by the young Kai. The chief and the general faced of in a battle that would change history for the worst.

And neither of them would know that.

_Next time: The fight between General Touzo and his men and the Sun Warriors continues. What will become of the ancient tribe, and will they be able to keep their secret? Find out in Chapter Two: Dragons._

* * *

**Woohoo, I'm done. Wow was that hard. Writing so much isn't as easy as I thought it would be, that's for sure.**

**For several descriptions of the ruins, I based them of the episode "The Firebending Masters" from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I will put up several pictures of some of the descriptions on my profile for those new to the Avatar universe.**

* * *

**OC's:**

**General Touzo - his name roughly means "conflict"**

**Kai - his name roughly means "fast, swift"**

* * *

**I know... _really _creative names...**

**Anyway, thank you Moleman171 for reviewing. I find that it really does motivate people to continue writing when they get reviews. ****I hope that I can go far with this story. To all those out there, please continue to read and review. Post any comments and criticisms or any errors you find.**

**And mainly, Thank You for taking the time to read the story.**

**Midterms for my college are next week, so either expect a short chapter, or expect it after two weeks, but I'll still try to keep this weekly. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. College is important to my future life after all. So please, be kind and understanding. **

**- Kenna Cat**


End file.
